What Parkville resident Beth Schmidt expected to be a typical storm-related outage on a muggy evening instead ended with popping sounds, lost power, and fire in her backyard.
The Parkville resident was left with burned property, and her neighbors were left wondering whether their utility company was taking repeated electrical issues in the area seriously.
Here's what to know
According to the Baltimore Banner, Sept. 3 brought more than an outage to Parkville's Cromwood Coventry neighborhood: locals described popping noises, vibrating power lines, power loss, and damaged electronics.
When neighbors met on Sept. 22, more than 30 residents described problems they believed stemmed from the outage and surge, including blown light bulbs, fried surge protectors, tripped breakers, and damage to appliances and HVAC systems.
According to BGE spokesperson Nick Alexopulos, the outage occurred because of "a fault on an overhead line," though the utility was still investigating what caused that fault.
"Storms were impacting our service area over several days, but we cannot definitively say the fault was caused by storm conditions," Alexopulos commented.
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Schmidt said this was the third time the same area of her yard, where her rabbit shed and peach tree are located, caught fire, which she believes was caused by a downed or arcing power line.
She added that the fire spread into bushes owned by neighbor Jeff Karowich. Eric Wicklein, whose Wicklein's Native Plants nursery sits across Cromwell Bridge Road, said the controller boxes for his water pumps were fried.
Mumtaz Hussain Soomro, an engineering professor at the Community College of Baltimore County, noted that power surges can happen when electricity is restored after an outage.
He compared the effect to abrupt shifts in water pressure when a large valve is opened or shut.
More background
Neighbors' concerns extend beyond a single outage. Worries also stemmed from what happened after a Feb. 16, 2025, outage on nearby Haverhill Road.
Haverhill Road resident Kelly Price measured one outlet at about 153 volts instead of the normal 120, while neighbor Jen Smith saw lights become unusually bright and power strips that "would pop."
Price also recalled that one neighbor's breaker box exploded. Another neighbor woke up to discover an attic smoking and a bathroom vent fan on fire, and firefighters found "charred joists and smoldering insulation" after opening the ceiling, according to a Baltimore County Fire Department report.
The Fire Department has not concluded that a power surge caused the February fires, and BGE claimed its reviews found no evidence of "sustained abnormal voltage conditions" or "neighborhood-wide overvoltage conditions."
Nevertheless, repeated incidents have left residents uneasy, especially in a heavily wooded area where power lines run behind homes.
Schmidt estimated about $2,000 in damage to her shed and peach tree.
Smith emphasized that the issue has become more noticeable, while neighbor Sarah Ford said frequent power dips often set off backup battery alarms throughout her home.
What's being done?
After the September and February incidents, BGE said it responded to complaints with engineer reviews, field inspections, voltage monitoring, vegetation checks, and reliability evaluations.
The utility also said it installed a TripSaver device in the neighborhood in March 2025 to reduce sustained outages, and Alexopulos said contractors regularly trim branches around power lines.
Alexopulos also pointed to routine maintenance, saying BGE tries to prevent failures tied to aging electric infrastructure and normal wear and tear.
"But again, you can't catch all of those things in advance," he added.
Utility companies generally advise residents to unplug appliances and other sensitive electronics during outages to reduce the risk of damage when service returns.
Reimbursement is not guaranteed if damage occurs. Schmidt said BGE rejected her Oct. 1 claim, citing a storm declaration and saying it found no negligence.
Jake Ouslander, deputy people's counsel with the Maryland Office of People's Counsel, confirmed that utilities are not required to reimburse residents for damage from outages or surges after storms.
Schmidt admitted that recurring issues, coupled with BGE's claims, have made neighbors feel unsafe in their homes: "The first one or two [backyard fires], I was just kind of willing to forgive, but by the third time in the same place, and then knowing that these same surges have caused so much damage to all of our neighbors' houses? It makes you want to move."
Where can I learn more?
Outages and electrical strain are affecting households well beyond Parkville.
• The Department of Energy warned a 100-fold increase in blackouts could hit homeowners nationwide.
• Generac and home batteries are becoming a backup power option as outages worsen.
• A homeowner with an off-grid energy setup stayed cool through scorching outages after a hurricane.
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